This
volume contains the proceedings of the First DharmaAssociation of North
America (DANAM)
Conference, held at the site of the American Association of Religion, in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, 21 November 2003.Over 80 participants from universities and nonprofit institutions
in the USA, Canada, UK, and Indiaattended
the conference (listed at Appendix 2), in which seven Symposium papers
and seven Roundtable Panel talks were presented (Agenda listed at
Appendix 3).Complete texts of five papers and six talks, and their
ensuing discussions are included in this volume.

The Conference was sponsored by DANAM(DharmaAssociation
of North America) whichis an
independent, non-political, membership-based, non-profit scholarly
organization based in Virginia, with a focus on the constructive study
of Dharma traditions, understood as the indigenous traditions of India,
through the North American contextual lens.The mission and objectives of DANAM are described at its web
site at www.danam-web.org, as well as at Appendix 4, which also lists
many distinguished scholars as Patron and members of the Board of
Distinguished Visiting Scholars(BDVS)
drawn from various disciplines.

The
primary purpose of the meeting was to provide a forum where scholars of
Dharma Traditions(Darshana-s, Sampradaayaa-s,
Sangha-s, Maarga-s,
Paramparaa-s) and
interested members of Dharma communities could engage in constructive
approaches to, and in the examination of, contemporary issues in the
study of Dharma Traditions.